Other terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Principal inspection | In-depth visual inspection conducted at six-yearly intervals; access, such as underbridge units or mobile elevated working platforms should be provided to ensure inspectors can access all areas of the structure to within touching distance (Highways Agency, 2007) |
| General inspection | Routine visual inspection conducted at two-yearly intervals; no specialised access equipment is used (Highways Agency, 2007) |
| Structure type | Description of the structure in terms of the obstacles crossed and their relative positions – for example, a ‘highway overbridge’ is a bridge that carries a highway over a Highways England motorway or trunk road; primary construction material – for example, ‘concrete’ |
| Construction type | Primary construction material – for example, ‘concrete’ and ‘composite’ |
| Deck type | Structural form of a bridge, usually with reference to the articulation – for example, ‘simply supported’ and ‘cantilever and suspended span’ |
| Structure use | Class of highway the structure is on: ‘A’ – motorway class A road; ‘M’ – motorway; ‘T’ – trunk road |
| Region | The Highways England network is split geographically into a series of ‘areas’, for which contracts are let for services such as maintenance, inspection and renewals; the names of these areas have been anonymised in this work to avoid attribution of results to specific service providers |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Principal inspection | In-depth visual inspection conducted at six-yearly intervals; access, such as underbridge units or mobile elevated working platforms should be provided to ensure inspectors can access all areas of the structure to within touching distance ( |
| General inspection | Routine visual inspection conducted at two-yearly intervals; no specialised access equipment is used ( |
| Structure type | Description of the structure in terms of the obstacles crossed and their relative positions – for example, a ‘highway overbridge’ is a bridge that carries a highway over a Highways England motorway or trunk road; primary construction material – for example, ‘concrete’ |
| Construction type | Primary construction material – for example, ‘concrete’ and ‘composite’ |
| Deck type | Structural form of a bridge, usually with reference to the articulation – for example, ‘simply supported’ and ‘cantilever and suspended span’ |
| Structure use | Class of highway the structure is on: ‘A’ – motorway class A road; ‘M’ – motorway; ‘T’ – trunk road |
| Region | The Highways England network is split geographically into a series of ‘areas’, for which contracts are let for services such as maintenance, inspection and renewals; the names of these areas have been anonymised in this work to avoid attribution of results to specific service providers |